In November 2000, Kiewit was selected to engineer, procure and construct the High Desert combined-cycle power plant. Completed nearly two and a half months ahead of schedule, the 840-megawatt power plant project involved placing three gas combustion turbines and a 323-megawatt steam turbine. The team also performed work in the control, administration, warehouse and water treatment facilities.
The zero-liquid discharge system allows the facility to use 58,000 gallons of water per minute from the California aqueduct for steam generation. The wastewater is then treated, and about 2,600- acre-feet of water is returned to the aquifer beneath the facility each year.
The water goes through four processes: pretreatment, cooling tower blowdown, zero-liquid discharge and aquifer banking. The process begins with solids and debris being removed from the water. Demineralized water is produced in the cooling tower blowdown for the steam system. Once the steam has been used for power, it is condensed back into water. The rejected solids are filtered out so the water can be returned to the earth. Major quantities included 25,000 cubic yards of concrete, 850 tons of structural steel, 152,000 feet of piping, 120,000 cubic yards of excavation and 970,000 feet of electrical cable.
In 2003, POWER magazine awarded the High Desert Power Plant the Plant of the Year.